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Free Film Explores the History of Coastal Schooners

The Dock-U-Mentaries Film Series continues this month on Friday, March 21st at 7PM with an illustrated talk, FairhavenCoasters: The Story of Captain Claude S. Tucker and the Schooner "Coral" by Robert Demanche, Donald F. Tucker and Caroline B. Tucker. Dock-U-Mentaries is a co-production of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park and the Working Waterfront Festival.Films about the working waterfront are screened on the third Friday of each month beginning at 7:00 PM in the theater of the Corson Maritime Learning Center, located at 33 William Street in downtown New Bedford. All programs are open to the public and presented free of charge.

From colonial days through the early 1900s, the cargo-carrying coasting schooner was crucial to our nation's growth. Several thousand of these wooden sailing vessels once frequented our harbors, but by the late 1930s, only the 60-year-old Coral and a handful of other working coasters remained. Join authors Robert Demanche, Donald F. Tucker (the son of Captain Claude S. Tucker), and Caroline B. Tucker as they present an evening of stories about the last of the Fairhaven coasters. We welcome you aboard as Captain Tucker and the Coral sail to the working waterfronts of familiar southern New England ports, crossing paths with the likes of schooner men Zeb Tilton and Charlie Sayle, artist George Gale, marine architect William Hand Jr., rumrunner Bill McCoy, Clifford Ashley (The Ashley Book of Knots), and even Dr. Seuss.

The Working Waterfront Festival is a project of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern MA, a non-profit organization. The free festival, a family friendly, educational celebration of New England's commercial fishing industry, features live maritime and ethnic music, fishermen's contests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, author readings, cooking demonstrations, kids' activities and more.It all takes place on working piers and waterfront parks in New Bedford, MA, America's #1 fishing port, on the last full weekend in September, this year on September 28 and 29. www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org.

New BedfordWhaling National Historical Park was established by Congress in 1996 to help preserve and interpret America's nineteenth century whaling industry. The park, which encompasses a 13-block National Historic Landmark District, is the only National Park Service area addressing the history of the whaling industry and its influence on the economic, social, and environmental history of the United States. The National Park visitor center is located at 33 William Street in downtown New Bedford. It is open seven days a week, from 9 AM-5 PM, and offers information, exhibits, and a free orientation movie every hour on the hour from 10 AM-3 PM. For more information, call the visitor center at 508-996-4095, go to www.nps.gov/nebeor visit the park's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NBWNHP